A brief history of convertible seating arrangements for passenger aircraft is given in the article titled "Convertible Seats: Value-Driven Added Revenue for Airlines," presented at the SPEEDNEWS Aviation Industry Suppliers Conference in March 1995 by Richard L. Lankford of Boeing Commercial Airplane Group. In 1988, a team of Boeing engineers and designers conceived converting conventional economy-class seats to wider, more comfortable seats that might be attractive to a premium class of service. These efforts pertained to a standard-body, single aisle, six abreast 3/3 aircraft, where the "/" indicates the aisle position. The idea was to convert the 3/3 configuration of economy seats approximately 17 inches wide (as measured between the armrests) to a 3/2 configuration of seats about 19 inches wide. At one side of the aircraft, the triple seat unit would expand to produce three wider seats, whereas at the other side the triple seat unit would compress into two wider seats with some extra space between them. The Lankford article also discusses the potential economic benefits to an airline employing the new seats. See also O. Sutton et al., "Convertible Aircraft Seats Prove Their Worth," INTERAVIA, July/August 1995. The following U.S. patents are directed to this general type of 3/3 to 3/2 conversion:
______________________________________ Inventors U. S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ Daharsh et al. 5,104,065 Peltola et al. 5,178,345 Arnold et al. 5,131,607 ______________________________________
Simpson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,765 shows another seat unit that can be converted from three seats to two and back again.
For intermediate-size aircraft having twin aisle passenger compartments, such as the Boeing 767, and which typically accommodate six passengers per row in 2/2/2 configuration or seven passengers in 2/3/2 configuration, it has been proposed to use seat units which convert from a triple to a double and vice versa. For example, Slettebak U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,702 and Arnold et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,739 propose constructions convertible from six abreast (2/2/2) to seven abreast (2/3/2). In these constructions, the outboard doubles expand or contract to widen or narrow the seat width, while the center unit contracts to a double or expands to a triple.
Another proposed convertible aircraft seat unit is disclosed in Simpson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,120, describing a quint convertible to a triple, but using a large number of removable components that, depending on the configuration, must be stowed.
Up to now, convertible seats have not been used in wider body aircraft, such as the Boeing 777 and Boeing 747. Further, the most modem seat configurations now require complicated and space-consuming amenities, such as individual electronic displays for each seat, which have not been adaptable to convertible seats currently in use.